South Africa all set to tour West Indies for a bilateral series after 11 years

South Africa all set to tour West Indies for a bilateral series after 11 years

SA vs WI

Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced its home schedule for the year 2021 which includes a bilateral series against South Africa. It will be South Africa’s first bilateral series tour to the Caribbean in 11 years.

The tour will kick off from June 10th starting with a two-match Test Series followed by a five-match T20I series starting from 26th June as confirmed by Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday. After months of positive interaction between CSA and CWI, it was possible to schedule this tour. South Africa are scheduled to arrive in St.Lucia on 1st June.

The two tests are scheduled to be played at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia whereas the five T20I’s will be played at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada.

Graeme Smith expresses happiness with confirmation of tour

Graeme Smith
Graeme Smith

CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith expressed his joy at the team’s return to the Caribbean and thanked CWI as well as the governments of St. Lucia and Grenada for assisting in the tour’s commencement.

“We are extremely pleased to have the men’s team’s tour to the West Indies officially confirmed. COVID-19 has played havoc with the ICC Future Tours Programme and we are thankful to Cricket West Indies and the governments of St. Lucia and Grenada for ensuring that the tour goes ahead as planned. The hosting nations, in particular, came to the party at very short notice and Cricket South Africa would like to extend its immense gratitude to them for their enthusiasm and willingness to host us,” said Graeme Smith in a CSA release.

Smith also added that he highly anticipates the Caribbean tours because of its beautiful venues and the competitive cricket that unfolds.

“Tours to the West Indies are always one of the most highly anticipated tours of them all, not only because of the beauty of the venues but the quality and competitiveness of the cricket that is in store. We are looking forward to explosive displays of cricket and entertainment on our screens for fans around the world to consume as the two evenly matched countries come together for both Test and T20 cricket,” added Graeme Smith.

The last time when South Africa toured West Indies which was way back in 2010, they had a dominating run as they crushed the mighty hosts 2-0 in the three-match test series and produced a white-ball sweep, winning the T20 and ODI series 2-0 and 5-0 respectively. They eventually returned without losing a single match on the tour.

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